The true impact of late deliverables at the construction site

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Abstract

Given that a construction site is both temporary and unique, the outcome of every construction project is dependent upon having all of the proper resources delivered to the site at the appropriate time. Although this is common knowledge in the construction industry, late deliverables to the site continue to be a major impediment to project success. In order to better understand late deliverables and their impacts on performance, the Construction Industry Institute, in collaboration with the Construction Users Roundtable, commissioned Research Team (RT) 300 to investigate how various types of late deliverables affect the cost, schedule, quality, safety, and organizational performance of industrial construction projects. Using case studies, industry surveys and questionnaires, existing literature, and internal team expertise, RT 300 developed two research thrusts: investigate how the industry understands, manages, and is affected by late deliverables, and document and give visibility to the true risks and impacts associated with late deliverables.
When examining how late deliverables affect the construction industry, RT 300 found that (1) there is limited understanding of the full range of late deliverables and their far-reaching impacts, (2) the most common late deliverables tend to have the most severe impacts on projects, (3) project teams are typically reactionary when managing late deliverables, (4) project stakeholders have varying perceptions of the risks and impacts associated with late deliverables, and (5) proactively managing late deliverables and impacts is key for improvement in the industry. With these findings and the second research thrust in mind, RT 300 created a database tool, the Late Deliverable Risk Catalog (LDRC), to document common types of late deliverables, give visibility to the full range of impacts, and help project teams recognize risks, improve alignment, and proactively manage late deliverables and mitigate the impacts. RT 300 has also developed implementation recommendations for the LDRC, prevention recommendations for the highest risk deliverables, and lessons learned in managing late deliverables. Altogether, this research can help improve the understanding of late deliverables and resulting impacts and risks in order to improve project delivery, productivity, and predictability as well as enhance safety, quality, and organizational and individual performance.